Friday’s best bets, by Chris Cook
One of the untold stories of each Festival is how hard trainers find it to book a high-profile amateur jockey for the National Hunt Chase or the Kim Muir. It can be a very unrewarding experience, like trying to nail down mercury. You think you’ve got a yes and then yer man’s name turns up in the declarations next to someone else’s horse.
Among those facing said problem right now is Colin Tizzard, who has the likeable Sizing Tennessee in the four-miler on Tuesday and nary a rider to stick on him. This is a beast with actual course-winning form this season, who might have beaten Black Corton there in October if he hadn’t fallen two-out.
In Wincanton’s winner’s enclosure yesterday, Tizzard was asked if he had a jockey for Sizing Tennessee. Having replied that he was talking to “several” but couldn’t get a commitment, the trainer appeared to broaden the discussion into an unexpected vent about jockeys in general.
“Like everything else, we’re second choice all the time,” he said. “Every jockey never agrees to ride for us. They’ve all got other people to ride for. We’re second choice for everybody.”
It’s as well the weighing room was out of earshot, or Tizzard might have been mobbed by jockeys, crying: “Me! I’ll do it! Give me the job, Colin, and I’ll never look at another trainer again...”
The reality, of course, is that Tizzard doesn’t want just anybody. He has his favourites, like Tom Scudamore, Harry Cobden, Aidan Coleman and Tom O’Brien, as well as Robbie Power when he can get him.
All of those men have other jobs, so, while they’re keen to get on Tizzard’s talented animals, they can’t always give an immediate ‘yes’ when asked. It seems the trainer would once more like to have an identifiable stable jockey, having had his son, Joe, and then Brendan Powell in that role in the past. Perhaps a deal will be done this summer.
It’s Grand Military day at Sandown and this time I’ve managed to stick to my sort-of rule about not betting in such races, the quality of jockeyship being rather more variable than usual. But I do like Lip Service (4.45) in the last, when the professionals are back in action.
This beast left the underperforming Tony Martin yard and joined Fergal O’Brien last summer. On his only run since, he was a respectable fourth of 19 at Cheltenham’s November meeting in a race open only to conditionals.
He’s had a wind op since then and O’Brien presumably feels he knows the horse better now, as he’s dispensed with the hood that Martin was using. Paddy Brennan climbs aboard. Only a modest improvement on the horse’s form with Martin would be needed to win this and Lip Service has three siblings who would have been up to the job at their best. He’s proving popular at 5-2.
I feel like forgiving Big Jim (4.10) for his defeat here last time, when he couldn’t cope with trying to track Gino Trail and his jumping went to bits. In this weaker contest against just two rivals, he could get back to the form that got him a win at Warwick the time before. Tara Bridge is no pushover but Big Jim looks overpriced at the general 5-2.
The nap is the 11-10 shot Grandfather Tom (8.15) at Newcastle. His four runs so far show him to be progressing nicely and he impressed with the way he battled back to score after letting a challenger up his inner at Lingfield last time.
Ayr 1.50 Snougar 2.20 Skywards Reward 2.50 Acdc 3.25 Charmant 4.00 Lake View Lad 4.30 Massini’s Lady 5.05 Chu Chu Percy
Leicester 2.10 Bollin Ace 2.40 Newberry New 3.15 Trojan Star 3.50 Finnegan’s Garden 4.20 Rouge Et Blanc 4.55 Alberto’s Dream
Newcastle 5.45 Natch 6.15 Team Showme 6.45 Lukoutoldmakezebak 7.15 Ravenhoe 7.45 Darkest Light 8.15 Grandfather Tom (nap) 8.45 Fuel Injection
Sandown 2.00 Brianstorm 2.30 No Hiding Place 3.05 Soul Emotion 3.40 Rathlin Rose 4.10 Big Jim 4.45 Lip Service (nb)
